Ophelia's Lament
by FlyingDovahkiin
Summary: Three years after Rido's defeat, Yuuki suddenly is discovered missing from the Kuran mansion while on vacation. Turns out that a certain vampire has been watching over her and will act again as her bodyguard when he finds her in the most dire of...
1. Kaname's Silence, Yuuki's Dilemma

**_Ophelia's Lament_**

_By Kate Valentine_

* * *

_I can't…_

_I can't._

_I can't tell them._

She ran through the night, drenched in the rain that fell from the heavens above. She stopped when she reached the ledge of the castle's ledge. Her nightgown swirled around her when the wind blew, whipping her hair about her face. She was convinced that this was a slap for what she'd done.

Whatever that was, she didn't know.

But they didn't talk to her anymore. It was as if she didn't exist…

Love.

Yuuki cried so hard at the thought of the word that hiccups began to overtake her sobs. Her sobs were always quiet, but now they could be heard. This was the breakdown that she had been waiting for all along—and she gratefully accepted it.

Why did she feel that she deserved all of this? Death? She had people that once loved her. Why was she staring into a dark abyss at the edge of a castle?

Because…because.

She was waiting for someone to come and kill her.

To save her from this pain…

Selfish?

Yes. But it felt good to be this way…

They had given her so much, and she couldn't give them anything in return.

Zero…

He turned her away once she became a vampire and after the fight with Rido. He avoided her as much as possible.

Her friendship was gone.

He shunned her like the plague.

Kaname…

A lump swelled within her throat. Sweet, sweet Kaname…his love was so perfect, so pure for her, that he wouldn't drink from her at all. He wanted her blood, but he seemed to have near perfect control over his hunger and took a blood tablet instead.

She didn't deserve either of them. Everyone treated her differently because of her blood line.

Why did it have to turn out this way? She swallowed her tears, but they seemed to mix with the rain anyway.

"For Shizuka." She heard someone mutter from behind her. She smiled bitterly when she heard the cock of the gun. After a moment of silence, "Have you any last words?"

She breathed. "Thank you…Ichiru." She smiled at him. "Thank you so much…" As a sob rose in the back of her throat, she heard the fire of the gun, and felt an immense pain shoot through her stomach. Yuuki gasped futilely for air and fell to her knees, clutching at her abdomen.

No…no! It wasn't supposed to be this way!

"May you die a long and painful death…princess." He spat the last word as he walked away.

He left her to die there…and she wasn't dead yet.

She couldn't remember if she screamed or not…she couldn't even hear what was going on around her after a minute of being shot. Blood was bubbling up through her throat, and she vomited who knows how many times before she was found.

Zero had cared for her after all.

Zero had known something was up when he saw his brother meeting up with Yuuki once or twice.

So he followed them…and found Yuuki in the worst of circumstances.

She was coughing up blood when he found her—enough so that she was lying in a puddle of it, although the puddle was being washed away by the pouring rain. It still had a way of staining her nightgown.

She had been screaming without really hearing herself, clutching her stomach in pain beyond words and sweet nothings. Why did she let this happen?

It was because of him…it had to be.

He distanced himself so that she could stick with Kaname. That was the master plan!

Then what did Kaname do if…

Oh, Lord. No…no, no, no…

Tears threatened his own eyes, but he forced them back as he picked up the bleeding porcelain doll and ran with the screaming, bleeding girl and took cover inside of the castle.

It had been abandoned long ago, but he found a bedroom and put her onto the bed. She wasn't screaming, but she wasn't exactly quiet either. Her eyes were glazed as she reached out for him, pleading for his help.

And then something occurred to him.

He carried all of the blood he had drunk from her a little while back.

Zero supported her as he placed her mouth at the nape of his neck.

"Yuuki," He breathed. "Drink."

"I-I c-can't…" She wept. "I'll…I'd rather…"

"Yuuki…" He finally let his tears drip off his face, alongside the water droplets. "I can't let you die…I can't…" He said, pushing her head closer to his neck. He felt her fading, and he was really becoming scared. "Don't make me resort to another way."

Yuuki started to sob again as she bared her fangs. "I don't want to…Zero…" She hiccupped, but was suddenly pressed against his neck, therefore sinking her fangs into him. Zero shivered as he felt her drink from him—so this is how it felt to want someone to drink from you…

She kept drinking, and Zero began to feel a bit dizzy. But he didn't stop her…she didn't stop him. He wanted her to know how he felt.

They both collapsed onto the bed, both ready to heal.

"Zero…" He heard her whisper. "Why did you leave me?"

The way she said that broke his heart—again. He watched as her breathing suddenly became sleep-ridden before he pulled her closer to him and pulled the covers over them.

"Because I loved you, Yuuki." He whispered into her ear. "More than you ever knew."

* * *

_A/N: I know that Zero's brother is...well...dead, but I won't let myself believe that. xD He was too perfect for the roll as her "assassin" and I'll just pretend that he escaped everything that happened at the school three years previous. If you don't like it, don't read it. Simple and clean right there._

_Anyway, if you have something to say--say it in a review. Who knows? You might get a personal response back. _

_Kate V._


	2. The Rate of a Soul's Scream

Ophelia's Lament

Chapter 1

The rain wasn't letting up.

So they were going to be stuck indoors until the rain would let up.

Zero looked back over to where Yuuki lay on the bed, and his breath caught. She was staring right into his soul…and it hurt to have her watching for his next move.

He sighed. Yuuki had been doing this ever since she woke up next to him. Movement was minimal, but he could see the pain infested within her very soul as she lay there, staring up at him for hours on end, saying nothing, only breathing. His plan to save her worked only physically…but her spirit…

Zero didn't know what to say, and he didn't talk either. Guilt began to consume him, but he knew better than to let it truly get to him.

Usually.

And then she splintered so suddenly that no one could have predicted when she'd have a break-down. It was the final straw when she held her arms out for him just as a toddler would have done so that her parent could pick her up and hold her. In two strides, he had her cradled against his chest and both were suffering from immense sobbing fits. Zero knew that he wouldn't ever be able to show this side of him, this vulnerability to anyone else but her, and he relished the moment they shared together.

He would never leave her side again.

"Zero…" Yuuki's weak voice said, her head still cradled against his chest. Each clung to the other as if they were afraid that they didn't exist or that it was all just a dream. Zero, instead of replying, planted a kiss on her forehead.

But Yuuki had other plans. She placed her hands on either side of his head and pressed his lips to her neck. "Please…Zero…" She said. "…please don't…reject me…"

It was hard to not give into the urge, but then common sense came back, and he knew that Kaname should be on their trail pretty soon.

"Yuuki." He said, pulling his head up to look into her eyes. "Right now, what we need to do is get out of here. I bet you have a pretty good idea of who is looking for you at this very moment." He wiped both of her cheeks and smiled down at her. "I promise, Yuuki, that I will drink from you—when the time is right. Can you trust me to keep that promise?"

Yuuki hesitated, looking down almost in disappointment. However, Kaname never promised to drink from her and she knew Zero to be a man capable of keeping his word.

Yuuki almost smiled at that. Not only was Kaname very much a man, so was Zero. _At least he promised._

Both of their heads shot up to look out the window, only to duck for cover not even a minute later. Zero looked at Yuuki, who was staring at him with a pained expression. He was suddenly glad that he didn't take of her blood—their vampire prince was right outside looking for her.

Zero beckoned to her and she hurried over to his side. She held the sheet around herself because their clothing was still drying by the crackling fire in the fireplace. Zero opened the armoire in the corner of the room and found a whole array of period clothing. His eyes darted over to the clothing by the fireplace before ripping a renaissance dress from the hanger, handing it to Yuuki, and promptly shoved their clothes into the fire.

"Hurry, Yuuki." He whispered, mixing the clothing with the embers. "He will smell this pretty quickly."

Yuuki nodded and pulled the dress over her head, not bothering to adjust the waist lacings on the pale, blue dress. Zero was busy shuffling around the armoire, pulling trousers and other clothing on as he looked for a way out of the room.

_Yuuki…_

Zero and Yuuki snapped their heads up at the call of the prince wafting through the air like magic. Zero gestured for Yuuki to get into the armoire with him, beckoning as if their lives depended on it. She ran, barefooted, and Zero's arm snapped out to grab hers, thereby hefting her into the closet and slamming the door behind him. He pulled her to the back of the closet with him, where it suddenly spanned into a larger smuggling space where Zero pulled a lever, which caused the floor beneath the shoe racks to collapse and disappear. Down below was…who-knows-what.

Yuuki looked to Zero, who smiled as she took his offered hand and he pulled her to him, kissing her hair before jumping into the black abyss that was below.

They didn't think about their lack of supplies for the journey they would endure or the theft of their untimely wardrobe when they plunged into the cold waters of the mote that surrounded this castle. No, they didn't think so much about the black messenger that was Death coming for them in this heat of night, or for the host of hosts waiting to take them back—if he or she would take the damned back at all.

No…all the other would think about was the look on the King's beautiful face when he saw Yuuki being held by not just another man, but his rival.

The arms of her protector, her knight—the one who really would take from her not just the blood of a pure vampire, but the blood seeping from the memories of her past, present, and her untimely future. He would sip from her the pains of her endurance, the times of her rejections, the feeling of being loved and unloved, the love of her life only using her for obvious purposes, and knowing at that very moment that she had made the biggest mistake of the century as she remembered back to the day she walked down that isle in a gown she had thought was taken from her mother's trust and thrust upon her. No, she suddenly knew at that very moment while watching her lover from that red loveseat her mistake for choosing not the man whom protected her all of her life and whom had a strange, mysterious attraction for her addiction to the paranormal life of what he was—one of the damned. No….no, no, no, no, NO! That time she had pushed him away when he refused to take from her what she truly wanted, what she wanted him to know. Her regrets, he love, her FEELINGS! He rejected not only those things, but he rejected her existence, her love, and what made up her entire being that oh-so lit up his life! Oh, no, Zero…_sweet, sweet Zero…_

Yuuki opened her eyes to see big, purple eyes boring into hers, and the smile he smiled lit her soul to flames.

"Welcome back…Yuuki." His voice cracked, giving away one of several things. He must have been screaming for help…assistance…to carry her to a warm house in which they were now in. She was still soaked to the bone—maybe even past the bone—but they were very much alive. Yuuki let her eyes tell him everything about her feelings, and he embraced her when she touched his cheek in a way that was delicate even for a creature of great strength such as them. The pair looked up at their caretakers who watched from the corner of the room where the closet was, and the commoners began to take out towels and warm blankets for this unsightly pair to dry off with. Yuuki sat up with Zero beside her and smiled, despite the weak façade she put up around humans.

"Thank you." She said. Her voice was raspy and just as broken as Zero's was, as if she had been screaming, too.

_No,_ Yuuki thought. _My soul was screaming for a while. This may just be the very end of it…_

The man helping shook his head and set the towels and blankets on the bed. "Get some rest." He said. "We'll talk later." He shut the door behind him with a soft thud.

"Here." Zero's voice was soft as he helped her slide her legs to the side of the bed. "Do you need some help?"

He helped her out of the dress with little incident and wrapped her in a towel, soon following suit and wrapping his arms around her to sleep.

"Thank you Zero…" Yuuki whispered, her back to him. "…for not rejecting me."

He allowed himself to smile again before he spoke. "Your eyes say more than your blood ever could."

She shifted to face him, her eyes still closed. "That's a bunch of bull, and you know it."

The silence before they fell asleep said otherwise.

_***Lots of run-ons in this chapter. However, I did see it fitting in with the mad feelings and situations that both Zero and Yuuki experienced within the chapter, so I just wrote without ever stopping. Everything just...came._

_And so I wrote it._

_Hope you liked it! And I hope that you think about it for a while._

_But, for now, we'll just see how the next chapter goes._

_KateV.****_

_(And the line tool wasn't working, so I had to resort to (forgive me) the underline tool.)  
_


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